Biblical Sodom and Gomorrah found !

The "Bible and Spade" Summer 1999 (Vol 12, No. 3) from the Associates for
Biblical Research announces "The Discovery of the Sin Cities of Sodom and
Gomorrah". The name of these two cities have
long been by-words in our language for wickedness. And many scholars
and archaeologists have long searched for the truth about these cities.

"And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it
was well watered every where, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah,
even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto
Zoar." Genesis 13:10 (KJV)

"And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two
daughters with him: for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave,
he and his two daughters." Genesis 19:30 (KJV)

"And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and
the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same
is Zoar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim;" Genesis 14:10
(KJV)

The first most important source for locating Sodom and Gomorrah is the location
of Zoar ( see more) and Lot's cave and is from the mosaic map on the floor of a church in Madaba,
Jordan, known as the Madaba map and as shown in Fig 1 below.

Fig1

Fig 2 below shows the excavation site of the known traditional location of the "Sanctuary
of Lot" in the hills above the indicated site for Zoar.

Fig2

One popular theory for a long time was that the Sodom and Gomorrah were located in the
plain south of the Dead Sea and later covered by the waters as the Dead sea water
level has changed over time. The level of the waters has receded in recent
years and search of the area has located no evidence to verify this location.
Searches starting in 1973 began to discover evidences of occupied cities in
the area southeast of the Dead Sea, most of them located so as to obtain the
benefit of water flow from the many Wadi's of the area. The map of the proposed
locations is shown in Fig 3 below.

Fig3

To date there has been located only evidence for two of the five
Cities of the Plain, but they are proposing that the evidence is strong that
the two most important cities of Sodom and Gomorrah have been found. That
being the evidences found of destruction by fire at each site due to the layers
of ash found in the digs by archaeologists.
Bab edh-Dhra ( Sodom ) is the largest of the two sites, the 7 meter wide (23 feet) city wall
enclosed 9-10 acres with gates located at the west and the northeast.
The northeast gate had two flanking towers with massive stone and timber foundations,
possibly the gate in which Lot sat (Genesis 19:1).
Estimated population at the time of the destruction was between 600-1200.
There was a large cemetery at Bab edh-Dhra ( Sodom ) and pottery evidence indicates that
some of the residents of Numeira ( Gomorrah ) buried their dead in this cemetery.
It appears that Numeria was in existence for only a short time, possibly less
than 100 years.
Paleobotany investigations indicated that a rich diversity of crops were grown
in the area including barley, wheat, grapes, figs, lintels, flax, chickpeas,
peas, broad beans, dates, and olives; an indicator that the area was "well watered" per Genesis 13:10.

Concerning the proposed cause of the destruction of the plain where Sodom and Gormooah were, they are proposing that
it was the result of an earthquake that forced combustible material to the surface
and into the atmosphere. Surveys have located bitumen, petroleum, natural gas
and sulfur in the area. And to the east of the Dead Sea is a major fault line and
these cities are located exactly on this fault line. See Fig 4 below.

Fig4

The Scriptures say that Abraham looked and saw "the smoke of the country
went up as the smoke of a furnace" and does not seem to mention a quaking, but
does use the Hebrew term for "overturning" in Deuteronomy 29:23. Possibly this is
an indication that the earthquake proposal is valid. Changes of elevation of
up to 164 feet have been noted which caused a change in direction of the Wadi
Numeria at the site, which is believed to be the event that caused the destruction.
Also found were evidences that the residents hastily fled the site and buried skeletons of
those who were caught in the destruction.

Conclusion: The author proposes that "... it is clear that the infamous cities
of Sodom and Gomorrah have now been found." You may visit their web site at
http://www.ChristianAnswers.net/ abr/ abrhome.html

APPENDIXLOCATION OF ZOAR

Deuteronomy 34

1 And Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, the top of Pisgah,
which is opposite Jericho. And Jehovah caused him to see all the land; Gilead to ( unto ) Dan;
2 and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah
to the sea beyond ( unto the utmost sea );
3 and the Negeb, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees,
to ( unto ) Zoar.
4 And Jehovah said to him, This is the land which I have sworn to Abraham, to
Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, I will give it to your seed. I have caused you to
see with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there." (Literal Translation by J.P. Green, Sr.)

"Gilead to Dan", if one reads this last phrase of verse one and stops they could
assume that Dan was to the north of the territory of Gilead, but instead the city of
Dan is almost directly north of Jericho and north of the territory of Naphtali, see the map below.
North of Gilead is the non-Israelite kingdom of Bashan. So it seems better for understanding if
one partitions it as "Gilead to Dan and all of Naphtali;"

Then if we look at verse three with
the north as our pattern we will see that the location of Zoar should be to the south
of the territory of the Negeb where settled by the tribe of Simeon and not
directly to the south of "the plain of the valley of Jericho".
And it should be directly to the south of Jericho and Dan.

During the early Israelite settlement
period the upper portion of the Negeb was settled by the tribe of Simeon which is not mentioned
in the verses. Likewise the territory of the tribe of
Dan is not mentioned in the north.

Therefore, the traditional location of Zoar as shown on the Madaba Map, and
this location is disputed by many, is exactly where one would expect it to be according
to this understanding of Deuteronomy 34:1-3.